Dave's top tips

Menu del dia

Not many of us can afford to splash out on something special every day,
even when we're on holiday. That's when the menu del dia comes to the rescue
of the poor cash-strapped tourist.

In fact, the menu del dia has its origins in the menu turistico. Introduced
decades ago with the express intention of encouraging tourism, the idea was so
popular among locals that it spread throughout Spain, and was re-christened
the menu del dia. It is simply a fixed price menu, offered at lunchtime, and
virtually every restaurant and bar in the land does it. Look for the
blackboards outside each establishment. You'll get 3 courses (primero or
1°, larger than a typical starter), segundo or 2° (smaller and with
fewer accompaniments than a typical main course), and dessert (postre), often
very simple, like a pot of yogurt or a piece of fruit, but almost everywhere
offers crema Catalana, the local version of creme brulee.

Also included is a drink. It's not unusual for the 'drink' to be a whole
bottle of wine! Bread is always incuded, and coffee may be included, or you
can have coffee in place of the dessert.

You can find the menu del dia everywhere, but if you book a morning trip on
Gemini, you'll return to the marina in perfect time to enjoy the menu del dia
in La Barca Salamanca, one of the best restaurants in the marina. At 12 Euros
it's amazing value.

By the way, if you ask for the "menu", this is what you'll get. If you
actually want the price list (what we'd call the menu in English), ask for the
"carta".

Getting around

Barcelona is blessed with a truly excellent public transport system.

The metro is clean, easy to understand, cheap, services run very
frequently, and it covers almost the entire city. In the entrance of every
station are ticket machines. The best deal is the T10. It's a ticket that
gives you 10 trips, for 9.95 Euros. Multiple people can use the same ticket,
just pass it through the machine for each person.

The bus system is integrated with the T10 so you can use the same ticket on
the buses. In fact, you can come out of the metro and get on the bus and it
still counts as a single journey. Remember you still need to punch your ticket
in the machine on the bus, but it won't deduct a trip. Very fair!

While the metro is easy enough to figure out, buses are always a bit more
complicated. That's where you need an app to help. Moovit is, no
hyperbole, life changing. OK, slight hyperbole. But not much. You'll be
travelling round the city - any city - like a native. Tell the app where you
want to go, and it offers you various routes on public transport to get
you there. It draws them on a map, and gives real-time arrival times for
buses, metros and trains.

Further afield, the trains to nearby towns are excellent value. There are
routes running up and down the coast, as well as inland. Local trains are
called "cercanias". You can use your T10 within zone 1. Further out, just buy
a ticket from the machines in the stations. They're very cheap. Remember to
hold on to your ticket until the end of the trip - you'll need it to be able
to exit the station.

Popular destinations for a day trip include Sitges and Tarragona (south of
the city), and any of the coastal resorts on the coast north of the city. If
you love the beach but hate the crowd, make like a local and jump a train
north. The entire coast is one long beach.

Finally, taxis are cheap, reliable and plentiful. Except for trips to/from
the airport, where they're expensive, reliable and plentiful. Check out the
Airbus, metro, and train as alternatives.

Eating out - tapes!

Tapes is Catalan for tapas. You pronounce tapes as... tapas! Easy.

There are at least three main styles of tapes. Pintxos are very popular in
Barcelona. They're very artistic little snacks presented on a small piece of
bread and pierced (pinchado) with a cocktail stick. Take what you fancy, save
the cocktail sticks, and when you're all done, the waiter will count your
sticks and charge you accordingly. Yes, really.

In some parts of Spain, and in a small number of bars in Barcelona, a tapa
is a small, free snack served with every drink. Many bars will give you some
chips or nuts with your drink, but true tapas will be something a bit more
interesting. But as I say, it's not very common in Barcelona.

The main style of tapes you'll come across is a carta (menu - but more on
this word below) listing many individual dishes. These are not "courses" but
are individual items. Generally, a dish will be more than you'd want to eat by
yourself. You'll want to share, and that's the point. A group of 4 might order
say, 6 or 7 different tapes to share. It's a lot of fun, and you get to try a
variety of dishes. Some things to look out for include:

Pimientos al padron (tiny green peppers). Roasted on a hot plate (a la plancha)
and sprinkled with salt. Once in a while there'll be a random spicy one!

Pan con tomate (bread with tomato). Most places will just bring you this
ready prepared. Toasted bread, with garlic and tomato smeared over, then drizzled with olive
oil. In some places they bring you the makings and you do it yourself.

Chipirones - tiny baby octopi, fried until crispy in batter.

Patatas bravas - chips with allioli and spicy sauce. In my opinion, pleasant enough
but wildly overrated, but a lot of people love them.